Scorching Blue
by N3L
Summary: Of all things, Gaara is reminded of his home town from the blue of her eyes. Not intended as romance, but GaaIno if you squint. Oneshot.


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**Scorching Blue**

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Gaara found himself observing things more often than not. Whether or not this was due to his traumatic childhood or not, it had become a permanent part of his quiet personality. He had little words, and found that you could learn quite a few things from merely watching. Words can only do so much in the end.

The young Kazekage found himself in Konoha, standing quietly within a small hospital room. A child lay in bed, soft breaths sounding in the air. A chair was placed beside the bed and unconscious child. And one Yamanaka Ino sat slumped over in it, soulless for the moment.

Konoha's cheery sun shone in through the window and cast it's rays over this deceptively peaceful looking scene.

He eyed the limp form of the Yamanaka, who'd only moments ago was quite lively.

Left to his own devices in a room full of people unawares, he was allowed a precious moment of free contemplation. He looked at the child. He was perhaps eleven at the most. Quite young. A brunette with wild hair and freckled cheeks. The bandages felt wrong on such a youthful face. Next his attention roamed to the unconscious medic nin. Clothed in the standard shinobi vest and dark purple long sleeved shirt, her complexion seemed all the more fair. It was curious, he realized, how despite having light blue eyes without pupils, they proved to be the darkest part of her, in comparison with her light skin and pallid strands of hair. A color like white or cream would've been much more fitting on her he decided, after all, it would match the rest of her, but it seemed that Yamanaka liked to drape herself in dark contrasting colors; a heavy plum color at the best.

Gaara gazed silently at the mind specialist working over an academy student, shocked and traumatized due to an ambush performed by the Sound. Things seemed to be heating up, though the only current signs were mere skirmished here and there. However targeting the academy definitely sent the message through; their purpose in terrorizing the civilians of Konoha was met with rage. He glanced back to the bandages. The child's physical injuries were easily dealt with, cleaned and cared for with expertise.

But the mind was different. It couldn't just have a band-aid slapped on it. Using himself as the best example, the mind was...complicated. It took time and will to overcome any injuries dealt to it. Many times the mind was never healed at all. Many shinobi walked the streets cradled mental and emotional scars that couldn't be spied with the human eye. It is so strong in its resilience yet so fragile and easy to break.

The kazakage eyed the limp form of Yamanaka. Her bloodline limit seemed to right up in this field; of psyches and souls. A mind walker. Or in this case perhaps it was more accurate so say: healer.

On a whim of boredom he came along, before he spotted the blonde checking the dilated pupil's of said patient.

Hmmm. When he said he's accompany Temari to the Konoha's medical center, he realized he hadn't really thought things through. His sister was here visiting the Nara strategist and despite having come a damn long way in terms of familial bonds and general emotional recovery; Gaara really had no intentions of witnessing his sister's potential romance or feelings or whatever the hell was going on between the two occur.

So following her simply wouldn't do.

It was then the Hokage's assistant ran into him, Shizune was it? Something like that.

"Kazekage-sama!" She bowed down respectively. "I'd never expect to you here."

The red head nodded his head in greeting, no emotion evident on his face, "My sister had business here."

It was then they were interrupted by screaming from a door to their left. Wide-eyed and momentarily flustered; Shizune smiled apologetically and dove to the source of the scream, a mere few feet from where they were, in the very room where he stood now.

Curious for the cause, he stood in the doorway to spot the blonde place a hand emitting soft chakra over the boy's head. The child's terror and anxiety stopped immediately as he drifted into a deep sleep. The blonde looked up at their sudden entrance, and smiled in reassurance. "Everything's under control, Shizune." Ah, so it _is _Shizune.

The blonde was surprised to see him and bowed. "An odd place to see you, Kazakage-sama."

He repeated what his answer to Shizune. Was it really that odd to see him in a Konoha hospital? He didn't know any of the shinobi personally, other than Naruto…and he was away on a mission at the moment.

He supposed so.

Shizune strode out past him with another apologetic nod, intent on reaching her original destination. If Gaara had eyebrows, he would've raised one as he observed the kunoichi in front of him performed a few quick seals. She looked vaguely familiar before he recalled her from the few instances he got of her during the Chuunin exams. Ah, and she fought against Naruto's friend. The one with the pink hair that was now quite an accomplished medic. It appears that this blonde followed a similar profession.

"Are you also a medic?" he wasn't quite sure what prompted him to ask, as the answer was quite obvious, but it was done and over with.

"Well, in a sense, I suppose."

He raised his brow line in inquiry.

"I do have proficient training as a medic nin, but's not really my main thing. Just not as talented as others," a bittersweet smile graced her lips. "I'm here from time to time to help 'fix' peoples' minds." She initiated eye contact briefly with him out of respect, but then he was unexpected hit with a wave of uncommon nostalgia. The blue of her eyes held a startling clarity. They weren't a deep solid determined blue, like a certain Hokage-wannabe, nor were they soft or anything of the likes of describing someone's "baby blues."

The first thing Gaara was instantly struck with was the sharp scorching blue of a midafternoon sky in the dessert. As if someone managed to melt into gold across the horizon. It was a blue that leaned closer to yellow. Almost white.

And from the light color of her irises, the shadows they caught were also dramatically dark.

Yes, he was familiar with dark.

He listened earnestly to her despite being oddly thrown back to the sands and sky of Suna. "I enter minds and do my best to return them to balance. It's actually quite difficult to explain, but it's the best I can come up with. The mind is a complex thing. I just try to help it along the way, maybe speed up the process and make it easier."

He nodded and watched the fluidity of her knowing movements. The mind must indeed be a very complex thing. It must be quite an advantage to have her clan around. Many shinobi were a bit off in the head. He mildly wondered if every one appeared so damn cheerful in this village was because they had these mind healers.

It sort of made sense. How handy.

With an apologetic grin she spoke, "Excuse me, Kazekage-sama, but I must finish this right now, as I have a mission to attend to later."

He nodded in understanding, and let her continue. Gaara watched her go limp in the chair. Soulless for the moment. What did it feel like? Without a soul? The kazekage decided that the limp vulnerability shown at the moment was just a small part to the big picture.

Anyone who could put together a broken mind could surely destroy one effortlessly.

Hmmm.

Completely oblivious at the moment, Yamanaka Ino did not know and probably never will, that she had just gained some respect from the all powerful Kazekage of the Sand country.

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**End. Thank you for reading.**


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